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Townhall
Finance...
$58-an-Hour
UAW Workers Kill $16K Ford
Bonus as Stingy
By John Ransom
October 14, 2011
As
the UAW rank-and-file continues to
vote on the contract offer hammered out between management and UAW
honchos, the
Detroit Free Press reports that at least one local has rejected the
offer, even
though it includes a $6,000 cash bonus, a $3,700 profit sharing bonus
and at
least another $1,500 cash for each of the four years on the contract
for a
total of $15,700 on top of wages and benefits.
A
similar contract offer with
Government Motors (GM) contained a $5,000 bonus and an unspecified
profit-sharing plan for union employees based on North American
profits. And GM
employees make less hourly than Ford employees do according to the
Associated
Press.
The
hourly wage in the GM contract
will continue to go down.
“The
[GM] deal also will include
creative ways to cut GM’s hourly labor costs,” writes the AP. “GM pays
around
$56 per hour including wages and benefits, which is less than what Ford
pays
but far higher than other companies like Chrysler and Hyundai Motor
Co.” Ford
pays $58 per hour.
No
wonder some auto companies needed a
bailout. $56 and $58 an hour? Most CEOs and small business owners make
less
than that.
GM
workers, as a part of the Obama
bailout plan, agreed that they would forgo the ability to go on strike
against
their government masters.
Ford
workers did not.
GM
has reported profits of about $16
billion in the last 12 months on revenue of $147 billion, while Ford
has reported
profits of $25 billion on revenues of $131 billion.
But
here’s a question: At $58 an hour,
why the heck would Ford workers ever want to go on strike? That’s
$121,000 per
year in wages and benefits at a time when the average American worker
makes $38,337.
And
really: Who in their right mind
would reject a $16,000 bonus at a time that most industries are
shedding jobs
and wages are falling?
Not
Bobbi Marsh, someone who started
working for GM right before the crash came.
From
the Seattle Free Press
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